【亲近善知识 Relying on The Excellent Teacher】未依过患者 The faults of not relying on the teacher P15

【未依过患者】

【设若亲近不善知识及罪恶友，亦令诸德渐次损减，一切罪恶渐次增长，能生一切非所爱乐，故一切种悉当远离。】
二十多年了，那时候我出家没多久。我这个胃一直不大好，那时候就比较弱，跑到那个地方去的时候，有一个法师他非常好，非常同情我。看见了，说：哎呀，这个人啊……因为他多多少少大概也听说了我出家的一个因缘背景，所以很承蒙他看得起。他就来跟我说，送点衣服给我，然后就说：「某人啊！你身体不大好，要好好地多保重啊！小心啊！」那时候我觉得这个法师真好、真慈悲啊！然后他就告诉你，你吃东西，这个小心、那个小心。那时候我真的很感谢他，但是我后来了解:唉，恶知识！我真进一步了解的什么啊？它的这个恶的真正可怕的地方，平常我们在恶当中不自己晓得在为恶。他倒是一番好心。那时候我处处地方觉得，哎哟，真是这样啊！等到后来我慢慢地了解了，有很多人他往往一生在无病呻吟，还有呢自己觉得病，就受了那个病的磨折。

来源 SOURCE：

日常师父法语 21B 24’56”手抄稿第三册 P174L3

21B 24’56” Vol 3 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P174L3
English Lamrim Volume 1, P90

【The faults of not relying on the teacher】

【Moreover, if you rely on nonvirtuous teachers and bad friends, your good qualities will slowly diminish and all of your faults will increase. Then everything that is unwanted will develop. Therefore, always avoid them. 】
This was more than 20 years ago. I was a newly ordained monk. My stomach was never good, and I was especially weak then. When I was there, one of the venerables was very nice. He really sympathized with me. He more or less had heard of how I became a monk. I am grateful for his kindness. He came to talk to me, gave me some clothes, and said "So and so, since your health is not that good, you should take good care of yourself! Be careful!" At that time, I thought this venerable was really nice, really compassionate! Then he told me, "When you eat, you should be careful with this and be careful with that." At the time, I was really thankful towards him. However, later I realized he was a nonvirtuous teacher! Later on, what did I really realize? The true horrid of this nonvirtue, is that we usually do not realize when we are nonvirtuous. He was in fact being kind. At the time, in many instances, I did feel, "It is like that!" I gradually realized that there are many people who would spend a whole lifetime complaining that they are sick when they are not. And if you feel that you are sick then you will be tormented by that sickness.